


Flickering

by GraceSav



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Lena Needs Validation, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Someone Tell Kara She's in LOVE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 23:10:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10476645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GraceSav/pseuds/GraceSav
Summary: Lena Luthor is a few drinks in when Supergirl decides to drop by. Kara Danvers is a fool in love and she has no idea.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't done this since faberry. I have 4 more stories planned. This is only a one-shot. Dipping my toes in, if you will.

The flick of the lighter is almost drowned out by the whip of Kara’s cape as she lands, but then she hears it again, and one more time, before she watches Lena’s hand drop away as she takes a drag. “I never realized the Luthor evils included sponsoring big tobacco.”

Lena exhales a cloud of smoke, nodding her head toward the hero in acknowledgement as she stares across the National City skyline. “Supergirl… Does the parental ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ work for shockingly influential twenty-somethings?” She’s surprised by the Super’s sudden appearance but doesn’t deign to show it.

Kara laughs, and closes some of the distance between them, fists resting on her hips, “Well I suppose we might deserve a break occasionally from playing the perfect role-model all the time.” Kara punctuates her statement with a wink, attempting to earn a smile from the Luthor. Her smile fades when all she receives is a huff and a smirk that doesn’t even try to touch Lena’s eyes. Lena feels the ghost of an urge to toss back a witty response, but she doesn’t have the energy for their usual banter.

It’s then that Kara takes a moment to survey the situation she dropped into. She had stopped by on a whim, seeing Lena’s balcony door open, not even noticing Lena lingering in the shadows outside. Now that she takes a second glance, she notices an empty glass resting on the ledge, not far from Lena’s hand. The amount of ice remaining suggests the contents were downed quickly, but the numerous lipstick stains on the rim tell a tale of more than a few sips.

Lena Luthor, ever composed, is slumped over her balcony railing. Lena Luthor, outlined by moonlight, has shed her heels haphazardly behind her. Lena Luthor, all smiles and exuberance each time Supergirl lands on her balcony, has yet to even look Kara’s way. Kara’s hands drop from her hips as she realizes, Lena Luthor is not okay.

Lena sighs, head dropping down between where her elbows rest before her. “Not to be a bad host or anything, but is there something you want from me, _Supergirl_? I feel we ought to cut to the chase this time.”

Kara is taken aback. Lena still didn’t glance over as she spoke, “I, uh… No, Lena, I just saw you were here and thought I’d come see how you’ve been? I- I don’t want to overstep, but, it seems like everything might not be okay?” Kara phrases her statements as questions, not only because she is hoping for an answer, but also because she feels so unsure of herself in this moment. She feels driven to help her friend, wishing she had come as Kara Danvers instead.

“Oh, darling Supergirl,” Lena finally throws a look Kara’s way, and her eyes are cynical and hard. Supergirl looks young and innocent and beautiful, it’s painful to look at. “I take it you’re assuming something has happened, going over possible scenarios in your head?” Kara eyes Lena skeptically, hesitates before nodding, her hesitation fuels the fire growing in Lena’s chest. “Well, my dear, the answer is no. No, my mother didn’t call. No business deals went sour. Stocks are climbing, in fact. I actually met with three potential investors this afternoon and dare I say, I’m going to have a few billion dollars more to play with in the morning.”

Kara would call Lena’s tone playful, if it weren’t for the darkness in her eyes. If it weren’t for the tension surrounding this moment between them. She feels it in the air, as tangible as the smoke drifting between Lena’s lips after she takes another drag. Her suit suddenly itches on her skin. Lena has stepped back from the balcony's edge, and Kara’s view now includes an ashtray she has never seen here before.

Lena paces in front of Kara in a play of power. “My dear Supergirl, the thing about today, the thing that you are so certain of in your optimistic mind, that something has upset me, well darling, today is a Tuesday. What is significant about Tuesdays?” Lena stops her stride and laughs, a dark chuckle that sends a chill down Kara’s spine as she waits for the answer.

Lena’s sharp smile fades away as she stares at Kara. She brings the cigarette to her lips again for one long final drag. Lena exhales, shoulders dropping a few inches further than expected. “Nothing.” The fire in her chest extinguishes itself.

Lena stubs the cigarette out on the ledge and flicks it over the side, rather than using the ashtray behind her. Kara listens as it falls story after story and waits until she hears it land to speak.

 “So you are saying this is a regular occurrence for you.”

Lena drops heavily onto the chaise Kara stands in front of, before reaching into a mini bar Kara had believed to be an end table, and fills her glass again. “Yes, Supergirl. That is indeed what I am saying. Eventually, each day, my work ends. Today it happened to end early. So here I am. You have met Lena Luthor, CEO, and now you meet _me_. A drunk, vapid, shell of a girl, with not much to say for herself. So, if you’re looking for conversation, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

Kara is again shocked by Lena’s behavior. She supposes Lena is right, this is a version of the woman she has never encountered. “Lena, is that truly what you think of yourself?” Kara is appalled. She has rarely met a human so kind-hearted and pure.

Lena rolls her eyes, the embers of the fire inside her stoked by Kara’s banality. “Please, spare me the self-help, _Super._ I am a realist. My value lies in what I can do. My clout, my intelligence, hell, my business acumen. If you want me to tell you I’m valuable because I want the world to be a better place, you’re gonna need to get something much less legal than bourbon in me.” And with that, Lena knocks back everything she had just poured.

Kara immediately crouches in front of Lena, placing her hands on the woman’s knees. The soft skin feels cold under her fingertips. Kara can sense that Lena is trying to remain aloof, but she couldn’t keep Kara from noticing her lean forward minutely in response. “Lena,” Kara intones, ignoring the woman’s sardonic edge, “Lena you are worth so much more than all that. There is so much about you that makes you matter. You are more than a vessel for money and deals and pedigree.” Kara thinks that the alcohol is beginning to metabolize in Lena’s body. She’s staring down at Kara with wide eyes and her heart is no longer racing. “Lena,” Kara can’t stop saying her name, she breathes it like a prayer, like a call to a god, hoping to reach Lena. Kara’s hoping to make Lena hear what she has to say, to make Lena see herself the way Kara sees her. “Lena, you constantly play at this version of yourself, this evil Luthor that I think you expect me to see you as, but Lena, you are _good_.” Kara sees tears well up in Lena’s eyes, and she grabs one of Lena’s hands. “You are so pure of heart. Lena, you are a hero, you have saved civilians and aliens and _me_. You have turned your company into the force for good that you have always wanted it to be.” The first tear falls, and soon after another follows, and again. The pattern repeats until the tears are a constant stream down flushed cheeks, but Lena’s face remains stoic. The tears the only sign that Kara’s words are affecting her.

Internally, the struggle not to sob is a battle barely won for Lena. She knows it’s Kara Danvers she’s speaking to, even if she’s not supposed to. Everything Kara is saying is what Lena craves to hear in her weakest moments, and she's now realizing that this is one of them. Her palms are sweating. She feels so over-heated, this close to Kara. The Super’s hands like red-hot coals on her skin. She’s imagined those hands on her before, in a different type of weak moment, but she knows it would never be reality. Kara deserves so much better.

Kara’s hand lifts to cup Lena’s cheek as a new wave of tears fall, but doesn’t brush them away, she just holds her. Her left hand comes up to trace across Lena’s eyebrow, down her nose. The hand falls back down, but her right hand remains, and her thumb moves to trace Lena’s lip. Lena’s gasp breaks Kara out of her trance. They lock eyes for a millisecond but Kara immediately stands straight and steps back, “I should be going… I’m sorry.” She steps back again, puts her hands behind her back as she tries to squeeze the fire she now feels out of them.

Lena had fallen into a trance as well, at the feel of Kara’s hands. Kara Danvers hands touching her in a way that felt far more intimate than any of her previous imaginings. She’s in shock, her cheek cold where Kara’s hand left it. She isn’t certain what Kara is apologizing for, her jaw works as she tries to come up with words.

Supergirl steps to the edge of the balcony, tightly squeezed fists coming back to rest on her hips, feeling much less natural than the last time they were there. She turns back to Lena, eyes betraying an emotion Lena won’t let herself process, and says, “I have met countless humans since arriving on this planet, Lena Luthor.” Lena stands. “Out of all those people, all this time, and it’s your balcony I landed on tonight.” Lena’s chest feels tight, she watches Supergirl look out to the skyline as she did before, and when she looks back, Kara reappears. “What do you think that means?” Kara’s fists drop again, but the movement seems to startle her out of her thoughts. She shakes her head, feeling as though she’s awoken from another trance. Supergirl steps onto the ledge, “Goodnight, Lena.” And she flies off.

Lena watches her image fade into the night, feeling certain the Super’s red-hot hands left marks upon her skin. She brings her thumb up to trace across her lip.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm at houseofelcorp on tumblr. Come yell at me if you liked this. I'm like dropping hints that I want you to follow me.
> 
> I want you to follow me.


End file.
